![]() ![]() ![]() He'd say "why won't anyone call me Mike, or Michael, or Mikey… why do I have to be Michael White? No one calls anyone else by their first and last name…" everyone would laugh and I'd keep my skinny little self out of it. Sometimes there'd be fights! One guy named "Dog Meat" and other guy named "Foot" and "Sully" and "Brutha in law." "Waligorski" "Bob Bray" "Keith" and "Michael White" always complained about being called Michael White. They were all great guys who talked tough and acted as though we were all in prison. I had crazy long hair and the guys thought I was either British or gay. The shop was a dirty sweat-shop filled with loud machinery. I never really talked much to anyone at work. I had the wonderful experience going to work the next day and telling my work-mates about the Cooper gig. I remember thinking to myself that "I am so ready for this…" I made a joke saying that I've had a suitcase packed already waiting for this day. One fine day at rehearsal in 1980, I was told that the band will be the opening act for Alice Cooper. I worked six days a week usually nine hours a day for $3.50 an hour while maintaining an active musician's night life. I wasn't making any money gigging with Cadillac Kidz but needed to buy my own bass and amp, so I quit Truck City to work for Weather King Windows in Detroit. I was then able to transfer everything I learned onto the electric bass. We did that every night, all night, for almost a year. But he could do a lot of drumming with bare hands and work boots. Donnie loved the band Rush and talked with a heavy southern accent. I actually worked all night with a drummer named Donnie and he showed me something called time-signatures and rudiments. I pumped 100's of gallons of diesel fuel into semi-trucks all night and in between trucks, I'd sit and work out hand and foot rhythms pretending to be a drummer. During most of 1977, I had a job working midnights at Truck City USA in Dearborn, Michigan. I was in the right place at the right time and allowed myself to take risks. From wishing I could play music to writing music that was being played on WLLZ in Detroit was 5 years, but this didn't happen because I was a child prodigy or amazingly talented musician. ![]() So, to recap: I picked up a guitar in 1975 and five years later I was on stage with Alice Cooper, Cheap Trick, J Geils, Rare Earth, Jethro Tull, Black Sabbath, Billy Squire, Mitch Ryder, The Romantics, Iggy Pop, even Spinal Tap and many more big shows. And by 1979, I began to perform in larger concert venues and arenas as the opening act for my 70's rock heroes. In 1978 I borrowed my brother-in-laws Gibson EB-3 electric bass and began to play punk rock in very strange alternate lifestyle bars in Detroit. In 1977 my mom and dad bought me a real Gibson 1972 Black Les Paul Custom with an ebony "fretless wonder" neck (it had frets, they were very very low). By 1976, I was showing them alternate chords and lead solo riffs. Boots, and Ron Fogel would take turns lending me their guitars. I didn't have a guitar, so Rob Rosinski, Chuck Palmer, Fred E. In 1975 my friends showed me some guitar chords. The other kids in the neighborhood treated me like a freak. I was a long haired skinny kid playing imaginary drums with chop sticks. I hated those fat drum sticks and used chop sticks instead and learned rhythms with my red AM pocket-transistor radio. I thought drums would be an easy choice so my parents bought a practice pad that looked like a slice of bologna glued to some wood. I was convinced that the 9th grade had transformed me into a musician. I came home from Mount Carmel pre-Seminary School in June 1974. So these are all-analog "period" mixes with the original artists and producers involved.41 Years Ago we shared a stage with Alice Cooper. Original quad mixed albums were issued in the 70's on various formats including LP, 8-Track, and Reel-to-Reel tapes. Geils Band - "Nightmares and other tales from the vinyl jungle" Get ready to fire up your Oppo players and 5.1 playback for these new titles: Black Sabbath - "Paranoid" Two of the arriving titles have been long top requested titles in their vintage 70's Quadraphonic mixes, and have been fan's favorite albums. Previous releases in the series have included the Chicago and The Doobie Brothers box sets of complete quadraphonic mixed album catalogs. These will be Blu-ray discs with fresh new stereo remastering as well as the included 4.0 Quadraphonic mixes in 24/192kHz. Yes, advance buzz is that Rhino will be accepting orders on four new titles in their Quadio Surround series releases of vintage four channel "Quadraphonic" mixed albums from the Warner umbrella (which includes the Atlantic and Grunt labels this time around). Very exciting news for the surround listeners here: ![]()
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